NORTHAMPTON – The developers of a condominium complex off Northern Avenue must find another access to the site after a Land Court judge ruled that they cannot use an unnamed way to get to the property.

The suit filed by abutters to the site against Northern Avenue Homes, Inc., was heard by Land Court Judge Karyn F. Scheier in 2010. However, her ruling did not come down until Oct. 22 of this year.

To get to that point, the court had to establish the property rights of the half dozen plaintiffs and the defendant, trace the transference of those deeds back to the 1920s, and interpret whether the original owner intended the unnamed way to be a right of way for future owners.

The court ruled he did not, and that Northern Avenue could not use the land as an easement to get to the construction site.

Brad Shimel, who represents the plaintiffs with Alan Seewald, said the unnamed way is overgrown with vegetation.

“You wouldn’t find anything that looks like the layout of a street,” he said.

Although the developer can use View Avenue to get to the site, the restriction spelled out by the Land Court would make access problematic. Because the plan approved by the Planning Board shows the easement and relies heavily on it, Seewald said the developer will probably have to go back to the board with a new plan.

Douglas Kohl, the late owner of Kohl Construction, which is developing the site as Northern Avenue Home, Inc., testified during the two-day trial in July of 2010. Kohl died in September of that year. Ted Parker, the current president of Kohl Construction, said he will pursue the matter in court.

“Our attorney feels strongly that this was wrongly decided,” Turner said. “We’ll see what happens.”

The plan calls for the construction of 10, two-unit buildings in what is now woods near North Street and Northern Avenue. Kohl scaled his original proposal down and moved it further away from wetlands because of neighborhood concerns.